A/N: I am glad you liked my impression of Jasper's gift. I just thought if he can control and project emotions, he could probably manipulate them to be used as torture also. Ok, I think we can all agree that Edward knew a lot of info and was an ass for keeping it from everyone. Can you imagine what they could have done with that info had they known about it from the beginning? Well, at least Bella didn't end up with him. Right? Now they just have to deal with everything else. You will find out in time why Caius wants Bella. All questions should be answered by the end of the story, and most before then. Enjoy the new chapter and let me know what you think.

Chapter 28 – Home Is Where My Mate Is

By the time Jasper heard the others return from their hunt, aka get away from the house and the sounds of Edward being tortured, Jasper had most of his plans made. He decided that the safest thing to do would be to either get a car that could not be traced to him or to run. Running left a trace scent though. He could fly, but he worried that people would be watching the airports. No, driving was the best thing to do and he had already located a car that would be perfect for his needs. Since it was being sold by the owner, he didn't have to worry about a large paper trail. He would pick it up in two days and be on his way to Maine from there. He would have left the next day, but he needed to make a couple of calls and settle some things before he left.

Shutting down his computer, he grabbed a couple of things before leaving his room to seek out the others. He was sure everyone would want to know the results of his interrogation and he needed to inform everyone that he would be leaving soon to be with Alice and Bella. It turns out that he didn't have to go far since as soon as he walked out of his room, he found four vampires standing 10 feet from his door, "Just the people I need to see."

"So he gave you more information?" Carlisle questioned already knowing the answer.

Jasper nodded, "He did. We need to talk."

"I agree. Let's go downstairs to the living room," the patriarch suggested and soon everyone found a place to settle in the large room.

All eyes were gazing expectantly at Jasper, and he knew they wanted an explanation about what happened tonight. Other than that first time he had used that technique on Edward, Jasper had never done anything like that to anyone around them and it had the family wondering how powerful his gift really was.

Clearing his throat, Jasper started his explanation, "I know that you are probably concerned about the methods I have employed in my conversations with Edward. You have known from the beginning that I can manipulate emotions if needed and I can do it to varying degrees. It is effective when you need to learn information or want to punish someone, but it is not something I use a lot and haven't had to use for a long time. However, Edward wasn't talking and he had information we needed. It turns out that he knew a lot more than he originally told me. He knew that Felix had followed Bella around as a child. He also knew that Marcus seemed to recognize her, but didn't know much beyond that for him. Caius on the other hand is interesting. He has photographs of her growing up, and there was a woman in Caius's mind that Bella looked similar to, but not sure what that is yet. It also seems as if Caius is doing everything he can to protect Bella. Someone sent James and his coven here to kill her, but Edward claims that he doesn't know who it was. Maria almost got her as a child, but I am not sure if Maria was sent to kill her or if it was just a coincidence. Felix was able kill and dispose of her before she got to Bella or anyone else in that neighborhood. Edward did say that Caius doesn't appear to be interested in her in a romantic sense, but he is not sure what the interest in her is. He did pick up some thoughts about a witch being right; however, he is not sure if it is a literal witch or a seer like Alice. Demetri and Jane seem to be clueless as to whom Bella is to the Volturi, but Alec seemed to know something about Bella. Edward knew when he left Italy that Caius was going to send someone after Bella and he did nothing. He did nothing to warn us and he did nothing to protect her!" He was getting angry and wanted to rip Edward apart. Seething, his fists were clenched and he was growling.

"Calm down Jasper. Was there anything else?" Carlisle asked softly. He could tell the other man was ready to lose it.

"You mean besides the part where he told me he still wants her and is jealous of me? Or how about the part where he threatened to kill me and take her back?" Jasper yelled.

Emmett snorted, "Is he still alive?"

Turning his glare on his adopted sibling, he growled, "For now."

Esme tried to bring the focus of the conversation back on the situation and away from what Edward was spewing out of his mouth, "Carlisle do you know of anyone in Caius's past that would have looked similar to Bella, or why he would be interested in a human so young in life?"

Furrowing his brow, Carlisle rubbed his chin with one of his hands as he thought about who this mystery woman could be. Finally he shook his head, "I have no idea, but it could be from before I joined them or since I left them. There wasn't a name?"

"Edward didn't say anything about a name," Jasper replied smirking, "Should I go ask him if there was one?"

"There wasn't a name," Edward walked into the room glaring at the empath and trying to stay as far away from him as possible. He knew that in a fight with gifts, Jasper could and would best him. He already had.

"Are you sure?" Jasper cocked an eyebrow and spoke in a thick Texas accent.

The fear in Edward's eyes could be seen by everyone. It was more than apparent to everyone in the room that he was terrified of the southern vamp, and based on what they witnessed earlier he had good reason to be, but they were also not going to get in the middle of them. Edward had kept details from them that were pertinent to everything going on and if he was keeping anything else, well a couple of them would help Jasper as he used his torture techniques on the copper headed vamp once again.

With his throat working overtime to swallow past his suddenly dry mouth, Edward croaked, "I am sure. There was no name."

Jasper could feel the fear, but no coercion; however, Edward had been able to keep things from him before because the fear can mask other emotions especially if he is afraid of being caught. His gift wasn't perfect, but it was useful at times, "Remember what I told you upstairs? It was a promise and I will carry through with it if I need to." He could feel the terror increase and knew that Edward understood his meaning.

"Why would you keep all of this from us?" Esme asked Edward confused and hurt evident in her voice.

"I… I don't know," Edward whispered feeling condemned by most of the people in the room. He didn't want to say that he was selfish and wanted to be her hero, he didn't want to admit she was in danger, he didn't want anyone else around her whether it be his family or someone else, and towards the end he didn't want to watch Jasper and Bella get closer to each other. He knew in the minds of the others they were feeble excuses; he knew that, but those were his reasons and in the end it didn't matter at all. Seeing the disappointment from Carlisle and Esme, and the judgment from the others, Edward wanted nothing more than to leave the room at that moment in time.

Walking over to her son when she saw him starting to make his way out of the room, Esme spoke gently, "I know you had reasons that seemed right to you at the time, but we are just trying to understand. You are still part of his family and we know this is hard for you. If you want to talk, we are here for you."

He couldn't look her in the eye, but managed to squeeze out through a tight throat before he left, "I know Esme. Thank you." Instead of going back up to his room to wallow, Edward walked out the front door and decided he needed to run to clear his head and get his wits about him again. What Jasper had done to him tonight had left him shaken and he hadn't been able to move past those feelings that had consumed him earlier.

When Edward had left the house, no one made a move to stop him knowing that he needed this time alone. They weren't sure what the after affects from his "session" with Jasper was like, but it appeared that he was still trying to recover. They couldn't blame Jasper though because he did what was necessary to get the information, and there had been a lot of it. If they had known half of that after the trio had returned from Italy, so many things could have been done to change the course of events; but he had kept it all to himself and although they were sure he had his reasons, they couldn't quite get a grasp as to why Edward would do such a thing if he really loved Bella as much as he claimed.

Carlisle's face had a scowl when he probed, "Was there anything else we needed to know?"

"I talked to Bella earlier and asked about her stalker and if there was anything she remember. She didn't at the time, but Alice called back frantic because Bella was upset and having an anxiety attack. She remembered her stalker, and it was Felix. She remembered his red eyes."

Gasping, Esme hand was over her mouth, "I can't imagine what that was like for her to remember." Everyone was in agreement and no one could blame the girl for having an anxiety attack that would force Alice to call Jasper in order to calm the girl down. If anyone could have reached her, it would have been him.

"What are you going to do now?" Emmett asked after a couple of minutes of silence.

Smiling, Jasper stated, "I am going to be with my mate. I have a couple of calls made to contacts and they will get back with me when they know something, but right now that is all I can do."

"Going?" Carlisle inquired with a perplexed look.

"When Alice and Bella called earlier, Alice said it was time for me to meet them," Jasper explained.

"When do you leave?" Rosalie asked.

"I will leave in a couple of days," the southern man answered.

"Well, we won't ask where you are going because you can't tell us, but we are all happy that you are going to be with Alice and Bella. I know that you have wanted to be with your mate for a while now," Esme smiled.

Nodding, Jasper's smile grew, "I have. I think I will just feel better when I can see that she is ok with my own eyes."

"What do you need from us?" Emmett questioned. He wanted to do whatever he could to bring this whole fiasco to a close and to make sure that Jasper was with his mate. Bella deserved someone better than a man who would manipulate her and try to control everything about her life. Jasper was that man... or vampire in this case.

"Nothing yet, but I might need you to look into things as I get information. Bella told me that I need to let go a little more and stop trying to take care of everything," Jasper chuckled.

"I agree!" Rose and Emmett declared together before they started to laugh.

Holding up his hands in surrender, Jasper joined in the amusement, "I get it. I will let you help more while I take care of Bella and Alice."

Carlisle lost his frown and started to smile, "That is good to hear. We want to help in any way possible. You can't do this on your own. Ok?"

"Ok. Thank you," Jasper spoke quietly. It was still felt a little awkward to have the family unit and the praise, but he was happy to have them on his side. Carlisle was right… he couldn't do this on his own.

"How are you going to get there?" Esme asked.

"I figured driving or running was the best way to get there. Driving will leave less of a trail to follow. So I am picking up a used car that I found that a private owner is selling. There will be less of a paper trail that way," he explained.

Once again looking serious, Carlisle stated, "I agree. The less of a trail you leave the better regardless if it is a scent or paper trail."

Rose contemplated the logistics of everything and inserted her opinion, "I agree, but when you pick up the car, I will drive you and then check it out myself before you buy it."

"I was just going to run to get the car," Jasper stated simply.

Glaring at her brother, Rose shook her head, "No, I will drive you. Firstly, I want a look at the car that you are driving to God know where. Secondly, you will leave a trail from here to there and didn't everyone just determine that the less number of trails the better?" Her voice sounded sickly sweet.

Jasper narrowed his eyes on the blonde girl and knew she had him there, "Fine, you can drive me and look at the car, but after that you will leave. Got it?"

"Yes, major sir!" Rose mock saluted him and started to laugh again.

Jasper shook his head and tried to contain the laughter he felt bubbling up. He wanted her to fidget for a moment before he let her off of the hook. "Excuse me?" He asked trying to instill anger into his tone of voice.

"You know if you want me to believe that you are really mad at me, you need to get rid of the amused look around your eyes," Rosalie declared folding her arms across her chest and not cowing down to Jasper and his intimidation.

He couldn't hold it in any longer. Jasper started to laugh and it felt good. They still had so many things to contend with between who was out to kill Bella and what she meant to Caius; and he wasn't sure what was going to happen when he finally reached Bella, but it felt good to enjoy the moment with family. Soon he would be with his mate and although she didn't know about that part of it, he couldn't wait to be by her side and fill the void he had been feeling since the day she left. He would be there in less than a week.